East coast boater evacuees anxious to return home

As thousands of people on Florida's east coast began to clean up the mess caused by Hurricane Matthew, those who sought shelter on the west side of the state were packing up and returning to whatever was left of their homes.

Hundreds of people with boats, multi-million dollar yachts, and even airplanes all hunkered down in Fort Myers as the storm slammed the east coast.

Now that the weather has passed, some of them are unsure of what they'll find on their journey back home.

"I talked to my next door neighbor and he said that our dock is gone. That storm was pretty devastating. It would have tore up every boat," said Vero Beach resident Douglas Sweet.

Sweet was preparing to face the worst when he returns home but has tried to avoid it. He's been sailing around the state for the past week in an attempt to avoid Matthew.

"A week ago today, I was in Georgetown, Bahamas. I boogied up to West Palm Beach and then went up to Vero where my home was and then they said it's coming at us there," he said.

He and many other boaters from the Atlantic side decided to dock at the Fort Myers yacht basin to wait for the storm to pass.

"Some of the boats that stayed got a lot of damage banging up against the docks. A bunch of sailboats sank at the dock where we're from so taking them through getting them over here was definitely worth the work to do it," said boat captain out of Stuart, Brian Schwan.

Starting Saturday, many made the trip back home unsure of what they'd find when they return. Along they way, they were keeping a close eye on the water.

"We're just hoping that there's not too much debris and anything like that left in the water," said Schwan.

Interstate 4 was full of bumper-to-bumper traffic Saturday as people who evacuated by car made their way back to the East coast. Most will return to homes without power and a cleanup that could take several days or even weeks.

Officials with Private Sky Aviation in Fort Myers said their hangar was packed full of private planes that were all from the east coast.

So far, half of those have left and the rest are planning to leave Saturday night and Sunday morning.